Dominican Tucano-Replica
On Sunday 19 February 2023, the Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana (FARD, Dominican Republic Air Force) celebrated its 75th anniversary with a large air show at its main base of San Isidro.
The newly acquired Bell UH-1H Super Huey II helicopters featured prominently during the airshow, which offered some insight in the status of the today’s air force.
The biggest surprise however, was the FARD announcement that they would start construction of ten TP-75 Dulus kitplanes locally.
A what? The TP-75 Dulus appears to be the local designation of a kitplane offered by Flying Legend Company as the Tucano-Replica, which indeed looks exactly like a mini-Tucano.
With the air force already operating the Super Tucano as its premier attack aircraft, this obviously led to some confusion, as one of the kitplanes was presented with serial 1808 and a badge of the Escuadrón de Combate, the FARD’s Super Tucano unit. However, it is believed this aircraft is actually N245EV (c/n TR-2101) and the construction of the FARD’s own kitplanes has only just begun.
Locally, the Tucano-Replicas are named TP-75 Dulus, after the Dulus Domenicus (palm charm), which is a native bird of the Dominican Republic, whereas 75 seems to point to 75th anniversary of the FARD, which intends to use these aircraft for training and reconnaissance missions.
Photo via FARD